Innocent deaths

A memorial is displayed near the Sandy Hook Elementary School on the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting.

I cried when I read about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since then I have read quite a lot about gun control. I read that Congress failed to act when the weapons ban on assault rifles expired in 2004.

Most people will agree there is no individual need to own assault-type weapons either for self-protection or sport. The National Rifle Association, an organization long supported financially by weapons manufacturers seeking to keep their profit margins high, continues to promote strict anti-gun control through its lobbying efforts in Congress, holding us hostage to its stance on no gun control whatsoever.

States are seeking to make their own gun laws. Many gun owners want laws to carry firearms in public. Instead of self-protection against crime, I envision people getting into disputes in public places and pulling out weapons. Maybe someone will get really irate at the police officer issuing them a traffic ticket. If people buy more guns, we'll all have to start wearing body armor. Uncontrolled availability and proliferation of firearms is insane.

More guns equal more innocent deaths. We live in a culture of gun violence as a daily occurrence. It's almost as if reading about another gun murder is "normal." We owe it to our children and grandchildren to demand sensible regulation of firearms and strict enforcement of gun laws.

Oh yes, and the other thing I read. Most of the innocent children who died at Sandy Hook Elementary still had their baby teeth.

KATHLEEN SHIELDS

Oaklyn

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Innocent deaths

I cried when I read about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since then I have read quite a lot about gun control. I read that Congress failed to act when the weapons ban on assault rifles